MOTORISTS avoiding the potholed left-hand lane along the Princes Highway between Warrnambool and Allansford have been hit with traffic fines.
Several text messages have been sent to The Standard during the past fortnight criticising the condition of the Princes Highway’s eastbound lanes, especially the left-hand section.
An Allansford woman was allegedly fined $122 and accrued three demerit points last week for driving in the right-hand lane to avoid the potholes while driving eastwards.
The corroded bitumen is particularly noticeable along the highway near Deakin University’s Sherwood Park entrance right through to a few kilometres from the Hopkins River bridge near Premier Speedway.
Roads to Ruin campaign director Jodi Fry said a number of main trucking routes throughout the south-west had sustained surface damage, including the Princes Highway.
She said the Sherwood Park section of the highway had been left in a poor condition for several years.
“It’s supposed to be one of Australia’s main highways yet it’s been left to corrode and become potholed,” Mrs Fry said.
“You’d think that a section of highway, probably one of the busiest sections in the south-west, would be maintained to an acceptable level but it hasn’t been. It’s wrong and it’s dangerous.” A Facebook page was established by the Roads to Ruin group last week with Mrs Fry encouraging south-west motorists to sign up and post photographs of damaged roads and highways.
VicRoads south-west region director William Tieppo said there were numerous examples along highways and freeways where the left-hand lane had developed wear-and-tear in comparison to right-hand lanes.
He said VicRoads would examine the issue and see what measures could be taken during the next few months.
Roads to Ruin representatives met with Transport Minister Terry Mulder last week to highlight concerns over poorly maintained thoroughfares located across south-west Victoria.
